mk4 Launch Edition (2020) Pre-purchase Questions / Advice

[hdkagawa]

Hi all, 

I've read a few threads but was hoping for some direct feedback on this... I currently own a '14 Aygo (bought in 2017), but it's cost me a few hundred already this year and there are a good amount of advisories on the MOT so I'm thinking it's time to upgrade...  I don't *need* to make any moves urgently, but I don't think much of my situation will change all that soon and I think I *want* to...

At the moment my living situation rules out an EV even though if I owned a place with off road parking etc it would be nice - I also don't park right outside the place i live at the moment (important for later on) - so I think my next next car will be an EV but right now it doesn't suit despite being seemingly ideal for my needs...

My use case:

~3k miles a year, but driven 5 times a week (bare minimium 4) albeit mostly 15/20 min journeys and occasionally a slightly longer one - I don't think this will drastically change any time soon but there's some scope for increased mileage in future 

I was all set to go to a dealership (there's one fairly local I like the look of) and test it out, see how it goes and pull the trigger potentially but I've been scared off a bit by all the 12v Battery going flat stories I've read on here and youtube - 'trickle' charging it, or using one of those 'solar chargers' isn't feasible without being extremely tedious and I often make my journeys at fairly short notice so I don't really have the time to faff about with jump starting it if it's flat if it's going to regularly occur... (hence the importance of the car not being parked right outside my living space) 

I love the design of the Yaris mk4 and specifically the launch edition for a variety of reasons - but is my use case totally incompatible? I find it ridiculous that a 20+ thousand pound car has such a potential problem? Is this specific to Yarises / Toyotas? I'm not worried about it not being the best bang for buck (petrol cars would be cheaper to buy etc) but will I have those issues or was that a problem more from the car not being run at all during the week, particularly in lockdown? does the 1 hour ready mode a week need to be in one go or will my 40 ish mins a day of it in 2 chunks be sufficient? 

What are your thoughts? I'm not opposed to getting a newer Aygo or Aygo X or something in petrol and then getting an EV in a few years time when hopefully I'll be in a position to have a home charger... IF regular but fairly light usage would be problematic 

IF this isn't a problem... - is there anything else I should be wary of in terms of buying one of these with my use case in mind?

[Cyker]

It is a good looking car  

I think a lot of the 12v problems are mainly down to the factory Battery being a bit rubbish - People who had problems, but then put in the Yuasa Battery, seem to have been fine despite no change in their use-cycle. I think your regular use would be fine after that.

That said, I'm still on the factory Battery and mine is coming up on its 3rd birthday with no problems so far! But I do a fair bit more mileage and am stuck in traffic jams a lot  

TBH with your new 20mph urban speed limit I'm sure that'll give the car plenty of time to put charge back into the 12v battery!

 

[hdkagawa]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

It is a good looking car  

I think a lot of the 12v problems are mainly down to the factory battery being a bit rubbish - People who had problems, but then put in the Yuasa battery, seem to have been fine despite no change in their use-cycle. I think your regular use would be fine after that.

That said, I'm still on the factory battery and mine is coming up on its 3rd birthday with no problems so far! But I do a fair bit more mileage and am stuck in traffic jams a lot  

TBH with your new 20mph urban speed limit I'm sure that'll give the car plenty of time to put charge back into the 12v battery!

 

What's the name of the default Battery that's in most of them? maybe I can check it if I do go down to see it

[CPN]

12 minutes ago, hdkagawa said:

What's the name of the default battery that's in most of them? maybe I can check it if I do go down to see it

Mutlu

[Graham47]

8 hours ago, hdkagawa said:

What's the name of the default battery that's in most of them? maybe I can check it if I do go down to see it

If you like the car you could always make a replacement Battery a condition of sale….

[G L J]

I am coming up to 3 years ownership of a ex demo 20 plate Launch edition. The car was 8 months old when purchased at the end of the second lockdown and had just over 1000 miles.

I had trouble with the Battery when the car was not used for more than a few days especially in winter but since getting the Battery changed for a  varta blue dynamic have had no trouble at all. I put the  Battery failure down to the car not being used much during the lockdown period at the dealership.

The only other costs have been three tyres . Two front ones due to fair wear and tear and one rear due to a large screw in the sidewall of the tyre 🤬

Very pleased with the car otherwise. I tend to do a ten minute commute to work four times a week and the occasional longer journey and the fuel economy is around the. 60mpg.

Another feature that is handy in Wales is the speed limiter . I just set it at 22mph in town and do not have to worry about constantly checking my speed.

 

[hdkagawa]

6 hours ago, G L J said:

I am coming up to 3 years ownership of a ex demo 20 plate Launch edition. The car was 8 months old when purchased at the end of the second lockdown and had just over 1000 miles.

I had trouble with the battery when the car was not used for more than a few days especially in winter but since getting the battery changed for a  varta blue dynamic have had no trouble at all. I put the  battery failure down to the car not being used much during the lockdown period at the dealership.

The only other costs have been three tyres . Two front ones due to fair wear and tear and one rear due to a large screw in the sidewall of the tyre 🤬

Very pleased with the car otherwise. I tend to do a ten minute commute to work four times a week and the occasional longer journey and the fuel economy is around the. 60mpg.

Another feature that is handy in Wales is the speed limiter . I just set it at 22mph in town and do not have to worry about constantly checking my speed.

 

Oh so that's ideal you use it less than I would and haven't had issues since changing the Battery - seems like a bunch of the stock batteries are a bit naff and maybe had issues exacerbated by the lockdown situation...  

I think I'll have a look at it and insist on them fixing the advisories on the MOT (couple of brake discs and tyres) and changing the Battery as well as part of any potential sale - great idea @Graham47

[hdkagawa]

@G L J is yours compatible with the mytoyota app? What can you actually do functionally with it? Is it possible to control the climate settings with it ? (Thinking about if it could defrost the windscreen in winters)

[G L J]

1 hour ago, hdkagawa said:

@G L J is yours compatible with the mytoyota app? What can you actually do functionally with it? Is it possible to control the climate settings with it ? (Thinking about if it could defrost the windscreen in winters)

I have the my toyota app but it  only gives journey details , cars exact location and service updates etc.

Controlling the heating and climate is not supported.

[CPN]

14 minutes ago, G L J said:

I have the my toyota app but it  only gives journey details , cars exact location and service updates etc.

Controlling the heating and climate is not supported.

...and won't be until the MY2024 becomes available in the UK

[Jules88]

Hi HD,

I drive pretty much the same mileage as you, sometimes ~5k depending on any family trips that year. The same shorter journeys to work and back as well. Honestly the car performs really well, much better in warmer weather as during the cold in shorter journeys you will mostly be using the ICE rather than EV as the car tries to keep warm. I couldn't be happier with it, and like you say it looks gorgeous and has some great features to it. I can't live without a head-up display now, and the adaptive cruise control is something you'd pay premium extra for in other cars!

I had the 12v Battery go flat during Christmas time as I was away with family for 3 days. I figured it would be OK for a week at least but I chalked that up to the cold weather as well.

Since then I usually sit in the car every couple of days for about 20-30 mins just in park/ready mode. *touch wood* That seems to be OK so far. Just think of it like you're charging an electric vehicle, just with no plug-in charger.

I don't think you will regret your choice. I wouldn't let the 12v Battery problems entirely put me off. I was annoyed when it happened, but I still love the car and would still have purchased it if I knew about it.

[hdkagawa]

20 minutes ago, Jules88 said:

Hi HD,

I drive pretty much the same mileage as you, sometimes ~5k depending on any family trips that year. The same shorter journeys to work and back as well. Honestly the car performs really well, much better in warmer weather as during the cold in shorter journeys you will mostly be using the ICE rather than EV as the car tries to keep warm. I couldn't be happier with it, and like you say it looks gorgeous and has some great features to it. I can't live without a head-up display now, and the adaptive cruise control is something you'd pay premium extra for in other cars!

I had the 12v battery go flat during Christmas time as I was away with family for 3 days. I figured it would be OK for a week at least but I chalked that up to the cold weather as well.

Since then I usually sit in the car every couple of days for about 20-30 mins just in park/ready mode. *touch wood* That seems to be OK so far. Just think of it like you're charging an electric vehicle, just with no plug-in charger.

I don't think you will regret your choice. I wouldn't let the 12v battery problems entirely put me off. I was annoyed when it happened, but I still love the car and would still have purchased it if I knew about it.

hmm, I will weigh this up - thank you - out of curiosity do you know if yours has the 'mutlu' default Battery in it still? Given what others have said I think that might be part of the problem...

I know myself too well though and already fear that not having to do such a thing ('charge' it) compared to what I do now would annoy me a lot especially with this (admittedly gorgeous looking) car being at the top of my price bracket, and I rarely drive on the motorway / extended dual carriageways so I'm not sure benefits like the cruise control would do much for me anyway 

So I'm considering opting for something like an Aygo X, or a hyundai i10, kicking the can down the road another 3-5 years and by then I'll hopefully have moved to somewhere where I can install a charging point conveniently and go for an EV 

[Cyker]

Just be aware 12v Battery drain issues are not limited to these but the more modern a car the more susceptible it is; It's even a reported problem on many models of EV as well!

It's just an inevitable problem with the increasing amount of always-on electronics in the car - Any car that has keyless entry or allows you to control it via a phone app will be at higher risk of draining its 12 Battery.

That said I think the Mk4 is unusually susceptible because of the low quality Battery used from factory - The Yuasa battery seems to be less prone, as long as the car is actually used, so swapping to one of those and keeping a jump-starter handy will mostly mitigate the problem away.

TBH though if you don't do the mileage, an Aygo or i10 makes more financial sense - As good as the Mk4 Yaris is, it's extremely expensive for a B-segment car, esp. if you get a high spec one, and while it is ridiculously economical it'll take a very long time to break even with the costs with low usage. That said, I think it's worth the premium just because it's so nice to drive  

 

[Fangz]

FWIW I drive mine quite infrequently, often going days without driving in winter and I have had no Battery issues. It might be that I don't have one with keyless entry or phone app. Perhaps you can pick one of those if you are concerned about this.

[hdkagawa]

3 hours ago, Fangz said:

FWIW I drive mine quite infrequently, often going days without driving in winter and I have had no battery issues. It might be that I don't have one with keyless entry or phone app. Perhaps you can pick one of those if you are concerned about this.

interesting... that might be a sensible shout - though my head has been turned by an aygo x with wireless car play now